A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to lawn mowers. More specifically, the present invention relates to mower cleaning tools that are designed to clean both riding and push lawn mowers.
B. Problems in the Art
As a lawn mower cuts through grass, a large quantity of grass sticks to the mower""s blade and to the underside of the mower""s deck. The grass that sticks to the underside of the mower""s deck and blade can cause a number of problems. For instance, wet grass can lead to corrosion of the blade. The corrosion of the blade due to the grass and the moisture within the grass can lead to dulling of the blade. In addition, grass can obstruct airflow underneath the mower""s deck, and in many mowers, particularly newer mulching mowers, the mower is designed for a particular airflow pattern within the mower""s deck. Finally, grass that has stuck to the underside of the mower""s deck will oftentimes fall off the mower""s deck after the mower has been put into a storage area, leading to a dirty storage area.
To alleviate the problems associated with grass stuck to the mower""s blade and the underside of the mower""s deck, people have used a variety of tools and methods to clean both riding mowers and push mowers. One common method of cleaning the underside of the deck of a riding mower involves removing the deck, along with the blades. After the blades and deck are removed, they are scraped with a conventional putty knife. One drawback to this method is that it requires a great deal of time to remove the lawn mower deck. In addition, the putty knife does not have much surface area with which to scrape the deck. Thus, considerable time is required to clean the deck once it has been removed.
A second common method of cleaning a riding mower involves elevating the front end of the mower with a jack or other elevation apparatus. Then, as in the previous example, the putty knife is used to scrape the underside of the mower""s deck and the mower""s blades. However, the use of a jack to elevate the riding mower leads to safety concerns in that the jack could collapse and injure someone underneath the mower. In addition, the use of a putty knife underneath the mower is unsatisfactory. Due to the short handle on the putty knife, a user""s hand will sometimes strike the mower blade while cleaning the deck, often cutting the hand in the process.
A common method of cleaning a push mower includes turning the mower over and once again scraping both the blade and the deck with a putty knife. As previously described, the short handle of the putty knife brings the hands in close proximity to the blade. When the hand is near the blade, it will often strike the blade and cut the hand. In addition, the putty knife is not set at an angle relative to the handle on the putty knife. Angling of the cutting blade relative to the handle would increase the cleaning effectiveness of the mower tool.
Therefore, it is a primary objective of the present invention to provide a riding lawn mower cleaning tool that allows for cleaning of the mower""s deck without a need to remove the deck.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a lawn mower cleaning tool that can be used without requiring the use of a jack to elevate the mower.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a lawn mower cleaning tool which will keep hands and arms away from the blades while still allowing effective cleaning of the mower deck and the mower blades.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a push mower cleaning tool which has a grip of sufficient size that a lawn mower deck can be cleaned while the hand remains distant from the mower blade.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a push mower cleaning tool that has a blade that is angled relative to the handle to allow for more efficient cleaning of the mower deck and the mower blade.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide riding and push mower cleaning tools that provide a better looking lawn by promoting even grass cut by keeping blades from dulling, and grass clippings from bunching due to grass sticking to the underside of the mower""s deck.
These, as well as other objects and features of the present invention, will be apparent from the following detailed description and claims in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
The present invention relates to lawn mower cleaning tools. In a first embodiment, a riding lawn mower cleaning tool includes an elongated handle and a cleaning blade attached to one end of the handle. The cleaning blade includes a shaft attached to the handle and a generally L-shaped scraping blade attached to the shaft. A first leg of the scraping blade extends upward and the second leg of the scraping blade extends horizontally when the handle is oriented horizontally. This permits the scraping blade to scrape under the mower deck and around the inside of its circumferential wall while a portion of the handle remains available outside the mower deck for the user to hold.
In a second embodiment, a push mower cleaning tool includes a handle with a cleaning blade attached to one end of the handle. The cleaning blade includes a shaft and a scraping blade that extends at an angle relative to the handle and shaft. In both embodiments, the handle is of sufficient length when compared to the diameter of the mower deck such that the underside of the deck can be cleaned without the operator""s hands entering into close proximity with the mower blade.
In a third embodiment, a push mower cleaning tool similar to the second embodiment has shorter handle, which requires the mower deck to be tipped over or tipped on its side for cleaning. However, the handle is still long enough to keep the operator""s hands away from the mower blade.